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Aipom Line/HGSS
Aipom can be found only on Headbutt trees, both regular and special trees, on Routes 28, 33, 42, 44, 45 and 46, as well as Azalea Town and Mt. Silver. In the original Johto games, Aipom was really hard to find and catch, and it was arguably not even worth it. However, finding it has become much easier in HGSS, and becomes even easier if you're using the Dupes Clause. The introduction of Ambipom in the fourth generation has also made its existence a lot more meaningful; while Ambipom is no jack-of-all-trades, nor a particularly specialised Pokémon, it can be interesting to use, both due to being one of the very few legal Sinnoh Pokémon available in HeartGold and SoulSilver before the Elite Four and due to STAB Return hitting like a truck in the early stages of the game. While not being particularly noteworthy with all the bulky and/or fast Normal-types available in just about any game, Ambipom can still serve well as a U-turn hit-and-runner, as well as bringing a nuzlocke novelty to several teams. Important Matchups Johto * Gym #3 - Whitney (Goldenrod City, Normal-type): Clefairy will be 2-3HKOed by Headbutt. Aipom is not at a huge risk fighting it, as even moves such as Close Combat and Focus Blast (induced by Metronome) cannot OHKO Aipom unless they score a critical hit. Miltank is much tougher; Aipom can either attempt to Tickle it until its Attack is low enough to out-stall it, which also helps with dealing more damage, or try to make it flinch with Headbutt and possibly the help of a King's Rock, though this strategy is limited to Pickup specimens as the King's Rock is only obtainable through Pickup at this point in the game. Both strategies rely on luck to an extent, because Stomp is a 3HKO, thus a regular and a critical hit combined will kill Aipom. Aipom also needs Protect to face Miltank, to avoid its Rollout powering up. * Rival (Burned Tower): Thunderbolt can dispose of Gastly in two or three hits, but not without risks: Gastly can Mean Look and Curse, as well as inflict confusion on Aipom with Confuse Ray. Zubat's Wing Attack is not that strong, and Thunderbolt is a good answer to it. Aipom has no way to hit Magnemite for reasonable damage, and should avoid it altogether. As far as the starters go, Thunderbolt can 3HKO Croconaw without a problem, and Headbutt slightly outdamages Quilava's Flame Wheel but not Bayleef's Magical Leaf, which is only rivaled by Return or U-turn. All starters can be 3HKOed, and Aipom also outspeeds, so it should only be wary of them in the event of possible critical hits when its health is low. * Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): Gastly can only hurt Aipom with Mean Look and Curse, the level 21 Haunter only with Curse and Dream Eater, and the level 23 Haunter and Gengar only with Sucker Punch and (Haunter only) Curse. All of them have their workarounds, but the damage Aipom deals will be low, as Astonish and Thunderbolt are its only options short of already having Shadow Claw. If Aipom does have Shadow Claw, it can OHKO Gastly and 2HKO both of the Haunter, then 2-3HKO Gengar after its Sucker Punch PPs are wasted. While Baton Pass may help Aipom get out of the battle in a pinch, it will pass on any hanging Curses and/or Mean Look to the recipient, so use it sparingly, unless Aipom is switching out to another Normal Pokémon (thus immune to Shadow Ball). * Eusine (Cianwood City): Aipom can beat Drowzee with Strength, Return or Shadow Claw. If it has Shadow Claw, it can beat Haunter as well, but still needs to switch out against Electrode, which sports Thunder; Dig is not sufficient to 2HKO it. * Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): Aipom's defenses are too low to work well in this gym, compared to the Attack of Chuck's Pokémon; while it can 2HKO Primeape with Return, and Primeape's Rock Slide is only a 3HKO, its Double Team and Focus Punch combo will quickly dispose of Aipom as soon as it misses one hit. Swift may not fail, but it also deals insufficient damage. Ambipom, instead, has a surprisingly good matchup. Since both Primeape and Poliwrath only have one Fighting move, which is Focus Punch, Ambipom can avoid getting hit by super effective moves altogether in this gym, and just spam Strength or Return until they drop. Success or lack thereof depends on how the AI behaves: if Primeape uses Double Team it can be difficult to hit it, and likewise if Poliwrath uses Hypnosis instead. There are workarounds for both: Primeape can be beaten with a combination of Headbutt and King's Rock if it flinches on the first turn, as both Strength and Return will KO on the next; for Poliwrath, Ambipom can scout for Hypnosis by using Substitute on the first turn, then keep attacking from the second turn onward. * Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): Ambipom can Dig both of the Magnemite into oblivion, but not Steelix: its Defense is far too high for Dig to KO it before it disposes of Aipom with Iron Tail. Beat the Magnemite if Ambipom has Dig, then U-turn away from the battlefield. * Petrel (Team Rocket HQ): Assuming Ambipom is already evolved, Return should OHKO everything Petrel has. As an extra safety measure, Ambipom may want to U-turn out of the Koffing fight instead, especially if it is still an Aipom at this point; Koffing has Selfdestruct. Otherwise, the fight should be no issue. Just watch for Raticate's Sucker Punch if Ambipom's health is low when it comes out - and it should not be, due to Return nuking everything and Ambipom's Speed being that high. * Ariana (Team Rocket HQ, tag battle with Lance): An Ambipom with Return will easily dispose of Drowzee and Grimer in a single hit. However, due to Arbok's Intimidate, Return is a 2HKO against all of Ariana's Pokémon. This is not an issue, however, as Ariana's Pokémon can deal little damage to Ambipom. Beware that Murkrow has Pursuit, so should Ambipom be damaged during the fight, it is better to heal rather than switch; a STAB Pursuit on the switch is hard to take for Ambipom's mediocre defensive stats. * Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): Return 2HKOs both Seel and Dewgong, neither of which can inflict severe damage on Ambipom. Piloswine is 3HKOed by Return, but comes close to 2HKOing with Blizzard; Ambipom may take a hit, but depending on its health level after it, it may be better to U-turn away to a bulky teammate if there is a risk that dealing another hit may result in Ambipom's death. * Petrel (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Bad idea. Everything on Petrel's team can explode, and Ambipom takes disproportionate damage from those moves. In addition, it is highly unlikely to score an OHKO unless Ambipom has Return and several levels of advantage over Petrel's team, due to the high Defense of the Koffing line. If Ambipom must be used here, be very careful and have a ready alternative for whenever Ambipom is too worn out to keep fighting. * Rival (Goldenrod Underground): Return works well against Golbat, Sneasel, and any starter the rival may have. It scores a 2HKO against Golbat, Sneasel and Quilava, whereas Meganium and Feraligatr are 3HKOs, but their moves cannot do any better and Ambipom is faster. If Ambipom also has Shadow Claw, Haunter will be a piece of cake as well. Magnemite is hard to damage unless Ambipom has Dig, so it is best to leave the job to a specially offensive Pokémon or a Pokémon with super effective moves. While Thunderbolt is technically an available option, Ambipom should not use it against Feraligatr, which takes more damage from Return despite the Electric weakness. * Proton (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Neither Golbat nor Weezing will be OHKOed by Return, but neither of them has very powerful moves, either; notably, Weezing cannot explode. They are both safe to fight. * Ariana (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Return everything, GG. * Archer (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Return everything, more GG. * Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): Return falls short against Gyarados here, especially since Intimidate comes into play. Either have Ambipom U-turn against it, Thunderbolt it for a 2HKO, or introduce the monkey to the battlefield only after Gyarados is gone; its Dragon Rage will generally 3HKO Ambipom. Thankfully, its moves are not that strong otherwise. The two Dragonair can be 2HKOed easily with Return, providing that Ambipom is not (or no longer) under the effects of Intimidate. Kingdra is problematic; it will deal great damage even without critical hits, and its critical hits are downright terrifying. If possible, use a special wall against it, or something that resists its attacks; Ambipom can 3HKO at best, and any of Kingdra's moves achieves a clean 2HKO, making the matchup unwinnable. * Kimono Girls (Ecruteak Dance Theater): An Ambipom with U-turn is an excellent lead in these fights. It can fight Umbreon on its own, with patience and healing (due to Confuse Ray), and either 2HKO Espeon with Return or U-turn in its face to a specially sturdier teammate, after dealing considerable damage thanks to the Bug weakness. Flareon is also 2HKOed by Return and will not fall to a single Dig either, but if Ambipom is still healthy, it can take a non-critical Fire Blast; bear in mind, however, that U-turn will be nerfed for the successive fights if Flareon goes for Will-O-Wisp and hits. Ambipom needs to switch out against Jolteon, to avoid getting hit by a full power Thunderbolt; it can only U-turn if its health is still full or nearly full, because Jolteon is strong and outspeeds. Vaporeon is also too strong, as it can 2HKO with Surf whereas Ambipom fails to do so with Return, but can be damaged with U-turn before Ambipom withdraws. * Ho-Oh (Bell Tower, HeartGold only): Ho-Oh is too strong for Ambipom to take on; it would deal far more damage with Sacred Fire than any move Ambipom can hope to use. Stay out of this fight. * Lugia (Whirl Islands, SoulSilver only): Although less so than Ho-Oh, Lugia is still a strong legendary and will deal a lot of damage to Ambipom with Aeroblast, reaching 2HKO range. Choose a better alternative if the team has one; U-turn outside of battle if Ambipom absolutely must. If Ambipom needs to fight Lugia, it must have Shadow Claw and be healed every turn until its Aeroblast PP run out, otherwise it will be dead. * Rival (Victory Road): Shadow Claw the Haunter, then Return everything that is not Magneton. Magneton has the obvious resistances working in its favour, but Dig OHKOs it. Feraligatr and Meganium both have the necessary bulk to withstand two Returns, and Typhlosion can take one, but none of them can hope to do any better than 3HKO Ambipom with their strongest move, so a healthy Ambipom that does not get hit by critical hits will come out on top. * Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): Ambipom can easily steamroll Will's team with Shadow Claw or Return (which actually deals more damage, but does not have an increased critical hit rate). It achieves a 2HKO against both of the Xatu, a 2-3HKO against Slowbro, and a clean OHKO against Jynx. Exeggutor can be OHKOed with U-turn. * Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Ambipom can Return both Ariados and Venomoth, resulting in a 2HKO, and potentially win against Crobat depending on how often it manages to hit, as Crobat has Double Team and can inflict toxic poisoning with Poison Fang. Return 2HKOs Crobat, though, so Ambipom will only need a little bit of luck to get the best of it. Muk can 2HKO with Gunk Shot, but if Ambipom is healthy, this is not a problem: Return is a 2HKO against it as well. Forretress will kill Ambipom with a single Explosion, critical or not, so avoid fighting it. * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): Ambipom has no place fighting anything but Hitmonchan, since it does not have Fighting moves, and the rest of Bruno's Pokémon minus Onix do. Hitmonchan can be 2HKOed with Return. Onix would be 2HKOed by Dig, but its Earthquake makes Dig a horrible move choice, and everything else Ambipom has is not sufficiently strong to outdamage that move. However, depending on Ambipom's stats and level, Return might just score a certain OHKO against Hitmonlee; Ambipom's Attack should be about 120 to do so, thus run calculations first. Hitmontop and Machamp will just brutally kill Ambipom with Counter and Cross Chop respectively; do not fight them. * Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): Return can take care of Umbreon unless it uses Confuse Ray, in which case U-turn or a heal may be the best option. Return is also a good weapon against Murkrow, scoring a clean OHKO, but Murkrow has Sucker Punch and should thus not be attacked when Ambipom's health is low. Houndoom and Vileplume are both 2HKOed by Return, as well; only Houndoom can 2HKO back with Flamethrower, so a critical hit may kill Ambipom, but this is not guaranteed to happen. Gengar has Focus Blast; do not fight it. Shadow Claw is not an OHKO and Focus Blast can kill. * Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): Ambipom has really poor luck all around in this matchup. It can only hope to beat Charizard, by being faster and spamming Return. Gyarados, Aerodactyl and all the Dragonite will fall only to three or more Returns, and Ambipom can barely take a hit from them from full health; it should not attempt to fight them at all. Kanto From this point onwards, you can fight the gyms in any order, though you will need to retrieve the Machine Parts from the Cerulean City gym before you have access to the earlier portion of Kanto. Feel free to anticipate or postpone any battles as needed. * Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): Fighting Brock with Ambipom in general is not a great idea, unless it has Seed Bomb. With Seed Bomb, Ambipom can easily rule the place. However, most of his Pokémon only have a chance - not a certainty - to be OHKOed by Seed Bomb, so Ambipom will either have to be healed while fighting, or will not be able to fight them all, unless a series of fortunate OHKOs does occur. * Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): Sneasel and Golbat will still fall to Return. Same for Meganium, Typhlosion and Feraligatr; they will each require two or three hits, but Ambipom can survive the matchup. Gengar will not be OHKOed by Shadow Claw, but it only has Mean Look and Curse to damage Ambipom, so it is safe to fight if Ambipom has healing items handy, just in case its Confuse Ray spam has Ambipom hitting itself repeatedly. Alakazam is 2HKOed by Return but can 2HKO with Psychic as well as outspeeding, so play Ambipom's cards well and U-turn out of the way if need be. Magneton is a pain unless Ambipom has Dig; Brick Break cannot OHKO, and its Discharge is strong. * Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): Ambipom has the upper hand against Golduck and Quagsire, as Return has a greater damage throughput than Water Pulse and Earthquake respectively, but it finds itself at odds with Starmie and Lapras, since they can tank Ambipom's moves and are also very powerful. Lapras and Ambipom both 3HKO with their best move, so Ambipom can win the matchup if at full health and assuming no critical hits occur. Starmie is weak to U-turn, so it can be dented while Ambipom escapes the battlefield. * Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Ambipom can get rid of Raichu and Electabuzz with two Returns, and Magneton with one Dig. Electabuzz has Low Kick, but Ambipom is so light that it deals less damage than Shock Wave, which is a mere 3HKO. One of the Electrode is non-threatening, but the other has Charge Beam and Selfdestruct, respectively dangerous in the long and short term; if that Electrode has already been offed, Ambipom can finish the job with the second one, but should otherwise not attempt to take either of them on, as a Selfdestruct paired with a Charge Beam will kill. * Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Return can 2-3HKO all of Erika's team, but the dangers that Ambipom must face in the process do vary. Tangela and Victreebel both have a strong Special Attack stat and, while Tangela's moves are not particularly powerful, Victreebel's Leaf Storm comes close to killing Ambipom, and will do so with a critical hit. Jumpluff and Bellossom, on the other hand, can 3HKO at best and are thus safe to fight against. * Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): Ambipom can face Crobat, the two Ariados and Venomoth and hope to defeat them one-on-one, though it may not manage to beat all four as Return can only 2HKO them, and Ambipom will pile up some damage while fighting them. The main threats are Crobat's Confuse Ray and, even more so, Ariados' Swagger, which can make Ambipom deal a lot of damage to itself. However, Ariados is also much slower than Ambipom, and not a threat if Ambipom is kept healed. Weezing has Explosion and will kill Ambipom with a single hit; do not fight it. * Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): Ambipom can 2HKO Espeon with Return, though Espeon 2HKOs as well, so a critical hit can off Ambipom. U-turn is the safe option, which lets Ambipom damage Espeon without getting hit by its strong Psychic attack. Keep in mind that Mr. Mime has Filter, and that even counting the super effectiveness, U-turn is still marginally weaker than Return; this fight is also less troublesome than the one against Espeon, as Return maintains its 2HKO status against Mr. Mime but Mr. Mime itself can only OHKO Ambipom with a critical hit that rolls for the upper end of the damage variation range. Much like Espeon, Alakazam also gets 2HKOed by Return, but can 2HKO with Psychic; in addition to this danger, however, Ambipom will need to be certain to outspeed to hopefully win a matchup without critical hits involved, and that can only happen past the Speed marker of 170, which is more than any Alakazam without EVs at its level can have. * Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): While Dig may be a powerful move to use against Magcargo, it does give it a free turn to set up Sunny Day, making Overheat and (Rapidash's) Flare Blitz even more powerful. After Sunny Day is up, Overheat from either Magmar or Rapidash and Rapidash's Flare Blitz are almost certain OHKOs against Ambipom. For this fight, it is best to use a Pokémon with a super effective move that does not require an extra turn to hit. Ambipom can still chime in against the last Pokémon, though, if Rapidash is already below half health and the sun is not up; in that case, Return will KO it. * Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): U-turn is the best start-off against Exeggutor, a likely OHKO. It will also help Ambipom bail out of any other possible threat, since most of Blue's team is not viable for it. Pidgeot is relatively easy since Ambipom's Return is stronger and its Speed is also higher, but Machamp is an obvious no, Gyarados can take two hits after Intimidate and subsequently Dragon Dance the whole team into oblivion, Arcanine is bulky and will deal disproportionate damage with Flare Blitz, and Rhydon will never go down to a physical move. With the exception of the latter, which can be 2HKOed by Seed Bomb if Ambipom manages to survive a hit, the monkey is not fit for this. * Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): Mostly a repeat of the previous battle, with Return taking care of Sneasel, Crobat, and potentially his starter with the due patience and healing. Gengar has just added two more special moves to its arsenal, whereas Alakazam now packs Focus Blast, which should be self-explanatory. Magneton, once again, can be beaten with Dig, but not with Brick Break or any other, less powerful move. * Red (Mt. Silver): Ambipom can alternate Return and U-turn to contribute some damage, but all of Red's Pokémon are very difficult to battle without risks for it. Pikachu is the only exception, being outsped and OHKOed by Dig. The starters have strong moves - Blastoise, the least offensive one, has Focus Blast in its arsenal, which Ambipom is very afraid of - whereas Snorlax relies on raw power, and has far more of it than Ambipom does. Ambipom can theoretically beat either Venusaur or Charizard, as both of them 2HKO only with their best move, which requires a recharge turn later; Ambipom's Return 3HKOs them instead, so if critical hits do not happen, it will get the job done before they get the chance to attack again. Lapras is no good; its Blizzard 2HKOs just barely and outdamages Ambipom's Return, leaving the monkey on the losing end. Moves Aipom starts with Scratch and Tail Whip, plus Sand-Attack if at level 4 or higher. It learns Astonish at level 8, which does hit Ghost-types, even though not for a great amount of damage. Then, it gets Baton Pass at level 11. While its available moves do not yet justify keeping Baton Pass, it does get Nasty Plot later on, which can make a great combo with it. Tickle, at level 15, is not bad but dicey to use, as the opponent's critical hits will ignore the Attack nerfs. Fury Swipes comes at level 18, and is not any better than Scratch. Swift, at level 22, may do a number on Technician specimens, but not much on others. Screech, at level 25, may help more than Tickle, but Aipom is generally frail and unlikely to one-shot anything even with Screech. Agility, at level 29, is not necessary on Aipom, but works well paired with Baton Pass. Double Hit, at level 32, is not a great move, but it does allow Aipom to evolve, thus it must be learned. After becoming an Ambipom, however, not much of its learnset changes: Fling at level 36 is terrible, Nasty Plot at level 39 runs off the wrong offensive stat but may once again be great for Baton Passing purposes, and lastly Last Resort, which comes at level 43, is unlikely to ever come in handy unless Ambipom runs it with only one other move (presumably Protect). Via TM, the best coverage options the line gets are Brick Break and Shadow Claw. Sadly, both of them have relatively low base power and cannot benefit from the Technician boost. However, when super effective, they should suffice to beat several enemies. U-turn is another great option, and Ambipom is one of the best users for that move, thanks to its high Speed and good Attack. Return is an obvious choice. Dig actually offers good coverage options, especially before Brick Break becomes available. If Ambipom runs Nasty Plot, it gains a number of viable special options, the best of which is Thunderbolt; it also learns Shadow Ball and, later during the game, gets access to Water Pulse. Baton Pass users may also benefit from Substitute, but Ambipom is unlikely to be able to maintain a Substitute due to its mediocre defenses. Tutors add a great deal of options. Aipom can learn Headbutt right after capture as its Normal STAB until Return becomes powerful, and it gets access to the three elemental punches after the League: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch and Fire Punch. The first two will generally be most useful, due to their superior coverage. Another option to consider is Seed Bomb. Recommended movesets: ''Standard: Brick Break / Dig, U-turn, Return, Ice Punch / ThunderPunch / Thunderbolt'' ''Baton Pass: Nasty Plot, Agility, Baton Pass, Return / Thunderbolt'' Recommended Teammates * Psychic- or Ghost-types: Ambipom's bulk would be incredibly lacking if it had more than one weakness. Thankfully, being a Normal-type, only Fighting-type moves will usually one-shot, and they are relatively easy to cover for; several Psychic- and Ghost-types can get the job done, and Ambipom covers both of them against Ghost moves. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Gengar, Slowbro, Slowking, Hypno, Alakazam, Exeggutor, Jynx, Mr. Mime, Xatu, Starmie, Espeon * Physical tanks: Although Ambipom only has one weakness, it still needs the support of a proper physical tank to be able to respond to strong physical hitters. Most physical tanks are Rock- or Steel-type, however, which stacks up another Fighting weakness on the team; for better synergy, the physical tank should not be weak to Fighting moves. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Feraligatr, Sandslash, Quagsire, Poliwrath, Slowbro, Forretress, Weezing, Azumarill, Tangrowth, Skarmory * Special tanks: Ambipom's special bulk is as mediocre as its physical bulk, although this is less evident, since most Fighting moves are physical. At any rate, having a special tank on the team is also in order, especially considering that Ambipom's U-turn will make it switch out a lot; switching out a frail Pokémon for another frail Pokémon is not going to help. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Noctowl, Togetic (Togekiss), Ampharos, Gyarados, Politoed, Slowking, Hypno, Muk, Azumarill, Tentacruel, Vaporeon Other Aipom's stats Ambipom's stats * What Nature do I want? Adamant, which maximises Ambipom's most useful stat. Impish and Careful are not bad, but Ambipom's low defenses will scarcely benefit from them. * Which Ability do I want? While Technician may sound more appealing, Ambipom actually does not learn many moves that can benefit from the boost. Pickup may paradoxically be more useful outside of battle, or when Aipom is done training. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Ambipom helps against Chuck in a way that Aipom cannot. If there are plans to use it against him, evolve first. Otherwise, waiting until before the Pryce fight is fine, but a close watch must be kept on Aipom's HP as it fights. * How good is the Aipom line in a Nuzlocke? It is not bad, but it is not that good, either. Ambipom mostly plays an annoyer/support role with U-turn and the occasional Return, when it can actually OHKO, but with its good-but-not-great Attack OHKOs will not be easy to come by. It is, however, interesting to use, especially as it is fairly rarely found even in other regions. * Weaknesses: Fighting * Resistances: None * Immunities: Ghost * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Steel, Fire, Bug, Water, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Ice, Dragon, Dark Category:HeartGold/SoulSilver Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses